


one of us gets too drunk

by humanluke



Series: 5sos prompts [37]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Drinking, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-16 11:01:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29452728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/humanluke/pseuds/humanluke
Summary: ashton comes home, and luke's been drinking again.
Relationships: Luke Hemmings/Ashton Irwin
Series: 5sos prompts [37]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2019475
Kudos: 2





	one of us gets too drunk

When Ashton comes home from a late evening out with friends and sees the bottle on the counter, he knows it’s game over already. It was full when he’d left home, he knew it was because he’d checked it and tucked it away in a corner of one of the cupboards. He sighs softly, hanging up his coat and kicking off his shoes. He can hear the muffled tears coming from the other room, he knows what he’s heading into. A warzone in which he alway loses.

He’s quiet when he tiptoes into the room, trying to be a ghost in all ways as he peeks around the corner of their shared bedroom door. Luke is curled up on the bed, trying to make himself as small as possible. He always tries to make himself smaller when he’s feeling small, but it’s a nearly impossible feat for the large man. Ashton leans against the doorframe, watching Luke shake with his tears, the empty cup on his bedside table more than telltale of where all the alcohol had gone.

He takes a breath as he puts up his emotional shield, heading into the battle zone of feelings as he steps into the room. He sits on the edge of the bed, dipping the mattress nearest to Luke. His shaking stops for a moment as he pulls his head from between his arms. His eyes are red rimmed and his face wet with leftover tears, and he looks like he’s been at it for a while. Ashton just offers him the tiniest smile he has, like the tiniest flower bud blooming, placing a strong hand onto the curve of his spine. Luke hiccups a little bit, looking lost and sad and the entire range in between. Ashton hates seeing him like this – it makes him afraid to leave him alone at all.

“Thought you were - hic - gone for the night,” he mumbles, voice shaking a little bit as he looks down at his hands. He’s playing with them idly for a moment before he brings them to his face, wiping away an ocean’s worth of tear stains on his cheeks. Ashton reaches up with his other hand, brushing soft blond curls from his eyes, caressing the side of his head gently. He knew Luke had to be handled carefully here, like china that could be broken with the slightest wrong touch. “Why are you here? You were… s’posed to be gone…”

“I would never leave for that long, you know that,” he says softly, tracing the curvature of his spine slowly as he admires him. “I always come back to you, you know that.” Luke sniffles a bit, his tears flowing again as he presses his face into the pillow, curving back into himself. “Hey, look at me, love. What’s wrong?” His words are gentle, not too harsh or prodding as he gives him a soft look. Luke peeks his head out again from the comfort of his arms, sniffling slightly.

“You’re too good for me,” he says softly, arms still firmly crossed over his chest. Ashton tilts his head a little, an eyebrow raised as he wonders what Luke means. Luke lets out a soft sigh, shaking out his curls a little bit. He pulls himself away from Ashton’s touch, pushing himself further out to sea, away from the lighthouse that lives within Ashton for him. He pulls his knees up to his chest, still trying to make himself small as he looks up to him, rocking a little bit. “I just… I don’t deserve to be loved.” His shoulders are shaking with the sobs that are wracking his body right now, and Ashton reaches over to him, placing a gentle hand on his knee.

“Hey, don’t say that,” he says gently. “Of course you deserve it, Luke. You’re fucking… sunshine personified, you know that, right? You bring so much joy and light to everyone around you. You arguably deserve more love than a lot of people who receive it.” He gently squeezes at his knee, looking to him with kindness in his hazel eyes, trying to pull Luke back to shore, to ground him again. It was near impossible at this point most of the time – he usually got pulled underneath the waves of his despair until the next morning, when he wakes up bleary eyed and clueless to what had happened the night prior.

“You’re just trying to fool me into thinking you’re going to stay,” he says softly. Luke has always been one to wear his feelings outwards on his sleeve, and he’s been hurt too many times to do so anymore. Even with Ashton – safe Ashton, Ashton who had been his friend first, who had helped him through all those past heartbreaks with a soft smile and an understanding nod, even if it broke him in two – he refused to let his walls completely down.

Until he started drinking, of course.

Then he laid it all out of the line – all of his thoughts and feelings and desperations, until he’s choking on them and crying so hard that Ashton can’t even begin to console him. It wasn’t as bad as it could be tonight, but Ashton still thinks it can’t be salvageable at this point.

“I’m not going anywhere, Luke, I’m right here,” he reassures him. “I’ve always been here, and I always will. I’ve got you, okay? You don’t need to worry about feeling that way. I will always be here to love you, no matter what.” He reaches his hand up to cup his face gently, brushing some tears off of his cheeks. Luke looks up at him, blue eyes shining and dark with tears and too many emotions, overflowing easily from his heart. “I promise, Luke.”

That seems to be a satisfactory enough answer for Luke, who just sniffles and curls back into himself, but moving to lay on his side. He looks over his shoulder once to Ashton, almost expectantly before turning back towards the wall. Ashton doesn’t bother changing out of his day clothes, sliding onto the bed next to Luke, arms wrapping themselves around him like rope to keep him from breaking apart. Luke sniffles as he easily leans into him, and Ashton thinks that tonight has been relatively easy, without the amount of arguing and tears that usually comes with this kind of mood.

“Will you sing to me?” Luke asks, his voice barely a whisper as he keeps his focus on the wall. Ashton just nods against his neck, softly singing a song that he knows Luke likes into his ear quietly. Luke loosens himself a little bit, more pliant under his fingertips as he sings to him, his chest rising and falling more slowly as he lets himself drift off, content to be content with Ashton like this.

And Ashton is more than okay with that.

**Author's Note:**

> come find me on [tumblr](http://cakelftv.tumblr.com)!


End file.
